Sabathia leads Brewers to first playoff berth since 1982

MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- CC Sabathia may only spend one half-season
in Milwaukee during the course of his career, but on Sunday, he
ensured his place in the hearts of Brewers' fans forever.

Sabathia delivered a Herculean effort, and the Milwaukee Brewers
snapped a 26-year playoff drought with a 3-1 victory over the
Chicago Cubs on Sunday.

Sabathia (11-2) spun his sixth complete game since joining the
team in July, and Ryan Braun hit the biggest home run of his
young career, a two-run shot in the eighth inning with two outs
that broke a 1-1 tie. Braun took the first pitch he saw from
Bob Howry (7-5) out to left field and sent the 45,299 fans at
Miller Park into a frenzy.

Coupled with the New York Mets' 4-2 loss to the Florida Marlins
on Sunday, the Brewers (90-72) clinched the National League wild
card and returned to the postseason for the first time since
1982, when they represented the American League in the World
Series.

Sabathia, pitching on three days' rest for the third straight
start, emerged as the club's hero, as pointed out by the Miller
Park soundsystem's playing of Foo Fighters song "My Hero" in the
top of the ninth. He yielded an unearned run and four hits with
seven strikeouts en route to his 10th complete game of the
season.

"It was his game, it was his two months, it was his year," said
Brewers interim manager Dale Sveum, who replaced deposed manager
Ned Yost with 12 games remaining in the season. "It was his
game and I was going to give him as much as he wanted. That's
just a special human being."

Overall, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner ended up 17-10
between the Cleveland Indians and Brewers, but finished 11-2
with a 1.66 ERA in 17 starts with Milwaukee. He volunteered to
take the ball multiple times during the stretch drive, when the
Brewers won six of seven games to close the year.

"Whenever they need me to take the ball, I'll take it," Sabathia
said. "The team has taken me in like I've been here all year.
I don't know what else to say. I think we can do a lot (in the
playoffs). We're a young team, we've got some superstars, and
we could have a lot of fun."

Brewers general manager Doug Melvin, the architect behind the
trade that sent minor league prospect Matt LaPorta and others to
Cleveland for Sabathia, painted his prized acquisition's
willingness to work on short rest in historical terms.

"Him wanting to come over here to a new organization and doing
what he did in his free agent year will probably go down in
history as one of the most unselfish things an athlete has ever
done, whether football, basketball or baseball," Melvin said.
"The most unselfish thing a player has ever done in the history
of sports, is what CC has done for us."

Sabathia will be a free agent in the offseason and probably earn
a payday well beyond Milwaukee's means. But in a soggy
champagne celebration that lingered nearly two hours after the
final out on the field, nobody was complaining.

"It's like watching somebody on a video game," Braun said.
"It's difficult to match the amount of success that he's had.
It's unbelievable to be able to pitch on three days' rest like
that, and he's done it."

Braun and Milwaukee got just enough offense to make Sabathia a
winner. The Cubs - using an assortment of bullpen pitchers to
navigate the contest - retired 18 batters in a row after Mike
Cameron led off the first with a single. Chicago starter Angel
Guzman fired two electric innings at the outset, striking out
four, and Chad Gaudin, Neal Cotts and Kevin Hart contributed to
the strong showing.

Ray Durham finally broke through with a double against Sean
Marshall leading off the seventh before scampering to third on a
groundout by Braun. Two walks later, the bases were loaded when
Craig Counsell was able to work a crucial free pass from Michael
Wuertz with two outs to force in a run, tying the score at 1-1.

That set the stage one inning later for Braun, who followed up
on his game-winning grand slam from Thursday's victory over the
Pittsburgh Pirates.

"I just wanted to hit the ball hard," Braun said. "I felt good
out there, I was seeing the ball well. I just wanted to see
something over the middle and hit it. It's awesome, man. It's
a great feeling for me, but this team has done so much to get to
this point. I couldn't be happier and proud of everybody."

Milwaukee gifted a run for Chicago in the second inning, with an
error by first baseman Prince Fielder aiding the cause.
Fielder's miscue on a grounder by Micah Hoffpauir put runners at
the corners with one out, and Ronny Cedeno legged out the relay
throw on a potential double play ball to enable Aramis Ramirez
to score.

Ramirez singled leading off the frame against Sabathia - the
only hit the burly lefthander allowed through his first five
innings. Sabathia also made a barehanded spear on Koyie Hill's
grounder to conclude the eighth, and he led off the bottom half
of the inning with a strikeout against Howry. Cameron singled
one batter later and was on first when Braun launched his blast
into the bleachers.

"I'm speechless," Brewers shortstop J.J. Hardy said. "This is
the most fun I've ever had. This is the best game I've ever
been a part of, the (best) team I've ever been a part of, so
it's been a blast."

Fans watched the final outs of the Mets-Marlins game on the
center field scoreboard, and Brewers players launched into the
celebration from there.

"They had a great year, and they finished it off in an
unbelievable fashion," Sveum said. "There's a lot of emotion
right now."

The Brewers will open the National League Divisional Series in
Philadelphia on Wednesday.